SHILLONG, Oct 30: The toll gates of Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) are still operating along the Shillong Bypass despite questions being raised about their legalities time and again.
A short drive on the national highway from Mawryngkneng till Thadshalai village on Saturday morning by a group of journalists revealed that KHADC gates are still operating along the bypass.
In the short stretch, there were at least four such toll gates on both sides of the road and one person was seen standing in front of all the toll gates with sticks and forcing trucks on the road to stop.
It was seen that a couple of trucks managed to give a slip to such toll gates and to proceed ahead but many other trucks were forced to stop by the people manning these toll gates.
When contacted, KHADC CEM Titos Chyne refused to comment on the existence of these toll gates and maintained that he would verify these allegation on Monday.
It may be mentioned that the Shillong Bypass is a national highway used by hundreds of trucks every day and this important road is manned by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
When contacted, a senior official of the NHAI made it clear that no other toll gate other than the NHAI toll gate should operate on the national highways which are maintained by them.
“These are illegal gates and such illegalities should be dealt with by the Meghalaya Government. We don’t have enforcement teams to stop these crimes,” the NHAI official said.
The late MLA of Mawryngkneng, David Nongrum, last year had also raked up the issue and alleged that the state government was turning a blind eye to ADC check gates along the highways and that five such gates exist along the bypass from Umiam to Mawryngkneng.
At that time, KHADC CEM, Titos Chyne, had maintained that there was nothing illegal about the KHADC gates as these are not erected on the National Highways but they were forest beats and range offices for checking illegal movement of timber and other forest produce, adding these gates were set up according to the Sixth Schedule as they have the powers like the Forest (Department) to check the transportation of illegal timber and so they are all legal
Even senior Congress leader, Charles Pyngrope, last month had warned of taking legal recourse if the state government fails to address the issue of mushrooming of illegal toll gates, set up allegedly with political patronage, along national highways.